Erick Thohir to Meet with FIFA to Find the Best Solution for the U-20 World Cup

Jakarta, MINA – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo sent PSSI Chairman Erick Thohir to meet with FIFA to find the best solution regarding the holding of the U-20 World Cup.

“So, don’t mix up sports and politics. Currently, FIFA is also aware of the rejection of the Israeli national team’s participation in the U20 World Cup. But, we, both the government and PSSI (Indonesian Football Association) are still trying to find the best solution,” Jokowi said in his official statement on Tuesday.

“For this reason, I have sent the General Chairperson of PSSI, Mr. Erick Thohir, to meet with the FIFA team to find the best solution,” he said.

He said Indonesia was consistent and firm in fighting for and supporting the independence of the Palestinian people and supporting the completion of a two state solution for the state of Israel and an independent Palestinian state.

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Israel’s participation will not affect Indonesia’s consistency.

“I guarantee that Israel’s participation has nothing to do with the consistency of our foreign policy position towards Palestine, because our support for Palestine has always been solid and strong. And in matters of the U20 World Cup, we agree with the Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia that FIFA has rules that must be obeyed by its members,” he stressed.

FIFA canceled the draw for participants in Bali following a wave of rejection of the Israeli national football team.

Israel is one of the finalists who will compete in the event along with 24 other countries.

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All participants consist of:

Africa : Gambia, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia.

Concacaf : Dominica, Guatemala, Honduras, United States of America.

South America : Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay.

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Oceania : Fiji, New Zealand.

Europe : Italy, UK, France, Slovakia, Israel

Asia: Uzbekistan, Japan, South Korea, Iraq.

Host : Indonesia. (T/RE1)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)